Governors in Montana, Minnesota Veto Measures Designed to Restrict a Woman’s Access to Safe, Legal Abortion

State advocates, policymakers continue to push back against abortion restrictions

05.11.17 - (MEDIA ADVISORY) Minnesota
Governor Mark Dayton vetoed two measures yesterday designed to restrict a
woman’s access to safe and legal abortion. The first (HB 809)
would discriminate against low-income women by prohibiting state insurance
plans from covering abortion services and the second (HB
812) would impose medically unnecessary regulations on abortion
providers. Today’s veto comes less than one week after Montana Governor
Steve Bullock vetoed
a clearly unconstitutional measure which would ban a woman from receiving safe
and legal abortion care after 20 weeks of pregnancy except in narrow
circumstances.

“We thank Governors Dayton
and Bullock for standing up to these unconstitutional, discriminatory and cruel
restrictions which would have severely limited a woman’s access to safe and
legal abortion,” said Amanda Allen, Senior State Legislative Counsel at the
Center for Reproductive Rights.

“All women should be able
to get the care they need free from political interference and we thank the
advocates and elected officials working to make that vision a reality. The
Center for Reproductive Rights is proud to stand with the majority of Americans
who believe women are best suited to make decisions about their health, their
futures, and their lives.”

The Center for Reproductive Rights
sent letters to both governors, urging them to veto the clearly
unconstitutional measures. The letter
to Montana governor Bullock noted that SB 329 is clearly unconstitutional,
violating “long-established
constitutional precedent prohibiting states from banning abortion prior to
viability.” This measure also violates the Montana
Constitution, which “contains
one of the strongest protections for privacy in the United States,” including a
woman’s right of “procreative autonomy.”Governor Bullock noted in his veto statement that “Montana’s elected officials have no
business substituting their personal beliefs for the sound medical judgment of
our healthcare professionals or the deeply personal medical decisions of their
constituents.”

The veto letter
to Minnesota governor Dayton also notes the unconstitutionality of both
measures, calling them “discriminatory,
harmful, and unconstitutional.” The letter also states
that both measures “would
significantly impact women’s access to essential reproductive healthcare and
raise serious health policy and constitutional concerns.” Indeed,
HB 812 is “constitutionally
suspect” under the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt—a
decision
secured from a legal challenge brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights.

This week’s veto comes on the
heels of numerous efforts at the state level to push back against the wave of
restrictions on reproductive health which continue to sweep the country.
Five states have introduced
measures which would codify last summer’s landmark Supreme Court ruling in Whole Woman’s Health while
several states have abandoned
their defense of clinic shutdown laws. The Virginia Board of Health
also voted to
amend its Texas-style clinic shutdown regulations in light of the Supreme
Court’s ruling, making Virginia the first state to take the step of
implementing the Whole
Woman’s Health decision through a legislative or
administrative body. Finally, the Center for Reproductive Rights is
tracking dozens of state measures which would expand or restore access to
abortion care.